Q: Hey Ira, what does the loss of the start of camp and the first weeks of the preseason mean for the Heat? — Brandon.

A: As with any team, it would mean somewhat of a lack of continuity whenever play might resume. But such lost time shouldn’t be as crucial for a veteran roster. One benefit could be a more likely return by Mario Chalmers, who is a restricted free agent and simply might not see it as prudent to go through the process of chasing offer sheets under such a tight schedule. As I’ve said before, the quicker the turnaround, the more likely the Heat return more of the veterans from last season’s roster, players such as House and Ilgauskas (who have small contracts), as well as possibly Bibby and even Juwan Howard.

Q: Hi Ira, I think the Heat should make a play on Kenyon Martin now that he is signed through March in China. He is a tough defender who I think would be willing to take a role with the Heat for a championship. What do you think? — Jose.

A: I think it’s too late, and you can’t plan for March now. Further, I still think players who have signed in China will try find a way to make it back to the NBA before the end of the season there. The real issue is whether the NBA would recognize Chinese sovereignty and not allow the player to return early to the NBA. I would think diplomatic relations with China might be more meaningful to David Stern than some end run by a player who panicked during the lockout.

Q: Why aren’t the league and the players meeting every day? — Sid.

A: Because they’re playing the stubborn card, refusing to be the first to appear desperate. You know what? Both sides should be desperate.

Q: Bloggers are wanting you to do a “Free-agent focus” on Jeff Foster. It’s hard to believe that he would stick buried deep in Indy when he can be an integral part of Heat rotation. — Martin.

A: Integral? Behind Anthony, Bosh and Haslem? No, injury-prone is not where the Heat need to add. And I’m not sure if Jeff isn’t at an Indy-or-retire stage of his career.

Game four he got it at the FT line extended. But, in game two he got a screen on a curl and was iso’d with Bosh at the top of the key. Heat should have doubled, but regardless Dirk made a one on one play while the rest of the MAvs just stood around on the perimeter and watched. Dirk was able to finish with the left, which is something neither Wade or Lebron would probably go to for a GW. Fundamentals anyone?

I agree with everything else you said though….. and that was not one of Spo’s finer moments. You won’t find me defending him there. I’m just pointing out Carlisle didn’t make some great coaching move to iso Dirk at the top of the key while everyone else stood around and watched Bosh lay out the red carpet for him.

You can keep saying “it shouldn’t have gotten to that point”, but it did. All great teams had major failures. We just look back and see the good times and forget about the failures. This was the biggest moment in Bosh’s bball life and what happened? Did he freeze? Who knows.

The Heat are going to grow from this. They didn’t come here to be Hollywood… they came here to win championships. Money, reputation…. everything else is secondary. The focus is only going to be magnified this year.

And Ira… can you please let this blog stand for awhile so kb can see this before you do a “Free Agent Focus: Earl Watson for MLE”.

“As I’ve said before, the quicker the turnaround, the more likely the Heat return more of the veterans from last season’s roster, players such as House and Ilgauskas (who have small contracts), as well as possibly Bibby and even Juwan Howard.” — Ira

I like haslem. Not every player can be a star or even a starter. You need hustle players like haslem. But ira gets a bit carried away as if he is in such awe of haslem. Haslem is indeed a feel good story of the model for success whereby if you work hard and don’t give up you can achieve success. I get that. But to put him in on a pedestal for being a hard working backup? When does talent fit into the equation? As a center even as a backup, he gets beaten in almost every statistical category by his opponent. He is not a center, let’s face it. He is a center the way antoine walker was a small forward.

I just read an analysis from an espn website how coaching really makes a difference in the playoffs and how spoelstra was outclassed in the finals. The author showed stats with certtain lineups and pointed out that spos stubborness he often used the least effective matchups. He said spo coached differently during regular season but for some reason didn’t do same in finals

Spo has two contrary tendencies that actually work together. On the one hand he is mechanical/stubborn – like in his rotations and substitutions. ON the other, he becomes random and throws out bizarre line-ups. they go together b/c he has no feel for the game (conjecture) and so he swings between extremes. I think part of the issue in the finals was that he froze and didn’t want to seem reactive and therefore failed to be proactive. You know the drill Marty. You’ve been criticizing Spo for the same things for a while now.

I just read an analysis from an espn website how coaching really makes a difference in the finals and how spoelstra was outclassed in the finals. The author showed stats with certtain lineups and pointed out that spos stubborness he often used the least effective matchups. He said spo coached differently during regular season but for some reason didn’t do same in finals

Haslem is better than Jeff Foster. If you think Foster is better at this stage of the game then it leads me to believe you haven’t seen many Pacers games in the last few years. Then again, why would you watch a Pacers game unless they were playing the Heat.

I agree with a few of you guys that spo was outcoached in the finals and the non use of dampier and james jones is very puzzling. However with that said, we got completely outplayed and spo cant suit up for us. Nobody anticipated lebron playing the way he did, but even with lebron not having a spectacular finals we still could’ve and should’ve won. They didnt play with any sense of urgency and to lose a 15 point lead the way they did was embarrasing. Both teams wanted to win, but one team played as a unit while the other resorted back to old bad habits that beat them durring the year. Realistically aside from a few games durring the season, the heat beat themselves on a number of occasions. I will be interesting to see how we come out when the season starts. I anticipate with a vengence, but I also thought that when the whole summer they were getting bashed left and right. Time to move forward and the ball is literally in their court.

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About the author

IRA WINDERMAN is embarking on his 24th season covering the Miami Heat for the Sun-Sentinel, witnessing more than 1,900 of the team's games (thus the bags under the eyes and hair loss not truly depicted by the accompanying photo). With the help of antacids (during the lean years) and a sense of humor (during the Riley dictatorship), he has been able to remain a courtside fixture at AmericanAirlines Arena, a veteran 12 years older than coach Erik Spoelstra. Only former trainer Ron Culp had attended more Heat games, but, then again, Winderman has yet to tape his first ankle.